Tag Archive: Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice

“Beauty and the Beast” was always going to open big. How much did it make?

Estimates place the remake of the Disney classic earning $170 million. That would be enough to top the $166 million earned by “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” for a new March record and is the seventh-biggest opening weekend ever.

“Beauty and the Beast” stars Emma Watson, Luke Evans and Josh Gad.

“Kong: Skull Island” dropped to second, earning $28.9 million. That’s a decent hold for the monster film, while “Logan” took third with $17.5 million.

“Beauty and the Beast” earned a massive $63.78 million on Friday. That is a notch below “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” and the $81.5 million it earned on its opening Friday, but comic book films are almost always more front loaded.

The Disney film starring Emma Watson (“Harry Potter”) should wind up around $160-170 million for the weekend.

The tale as old as time returns to theaters. There’s no question “Beauty and the Beast” will open above $100 million. How high will it soar?

Disney has had a lot of success bringing animated classics to live action. “Maleficent,” “Cinderella,” and “The Jungle Book” all enjoyed strong box office numbers but “Beauty and the Beast” stands in a class above them.

The animated film was released in 1991, meaning fans of that film are old enough to have nostalgia set in and many may have children of their own to bring. “Beauty and the Beast” stands tall as one of those revered films with music that people still sing today.

All that means anticipation is sky high. The movie earned $16.7 million during preview showings, much higher than other recent family hits like “Finding Dory” ($9.2 million). This film will light the box office on fire. Can it catch “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” and its $166 million March record? It’ll be close.